RAPP Campaign
Release Aging People in Prison Campaign
Holden Draper, Hoodline — As the legislative session wound down in Albany, lawmakers quietly signed off on a bill that could change the first days of freedom for thousands of New Yorkers leaving jails and prisons. The measure aims to plug a deadly gap in health care coverage the moment someone walks out the gate, a move that reentry advocates are cheering even as their push for broader parole reforms hit a wall...
Algis Baliunas, New York Times — I came of age as a prosecutor at the onset of the most punitive period in modern American history. It was the 1970s in Chicago, and President Richard Nixon spoke often of the urgency of getting drugs off our streets. Crime rates were high. Communities were under strain....
Tinsae Gabriel & Marie Ndiaye, FWD.us — This policy brief examines parole policies and practices in Missouri, Mississippi, and New York – three states that help illustrate some of the factors contributing to the nationwide decline in parole use and provide recommendations for a path forward. . .
Kerria Weaver/ Democrat & Chronicle — When Jalil Abdul Muntaqim took the podium to address the lawmakers during the public forum section of the Monroe County Legislature meeting, several Republican legislators walked out of the chamber...
Nazish Dholakia, Vera Inst. of Justice — Bobbi Cobaugh wrote in Inquest that “the only way to atone for a murder was to become a better person.” While incarcerated in the New York State prison system, she earned a paralegal degree, associate and bachelor's degrees in sociology, and a master’s degree in criminal justice. She has completed—and taught—anger replacement programs. And she attends trauma counseling weekly...
Bobbi Cobaugh / Inquest — When I entered prison, I followed the rehabilitative trail of breadcrumbs set out for me. I was repeatedly told to maintain a clean disciplinary record, obtain an education, sign up for industry jobs, pet the trauma pony, and train a bomb-sniffing dog. Correctional employees encouraged me to embrace these programs so I could honor my victim and redeem my life. I was told, “New Yorkers believe in second chances.” ...
BK Reader Staff / BK Reader — A report by the New York University School of Law’s Center on Race, Inequality and the Law flagged racial disparities in the New York State Parole Board's release decisions...
Robert Abruzzese / Brooklyn Daily Eagle — A recent report by NYU Law’s Center on Race, Inequality & the Law, titled “Freedom Delayed, Justice Denied: Increasing Racial Disparities in New York State’s Parole Release Decisions,” highlights significant racial disparities in parole release rates in New York State...
Reuven Blau / The City — Black and Hispanic people in New York state prisons have a much higher chance to be denied parole than whites over the past three years — a divide that’s gotten worse since being highlighted in 2016, a new study shows...
Carol Shapiro / The Marshall Project — Carol Shapiro joined the New York parole board to make change. Marathon days, copious paperwork and dysfunctional hearings brought her to tears...
Chris Gelardi / New York Focus — “Does anyone care how long people stay in prison?" That’s what Carol Shapiro wants to know...
By: Tim Murphy, City & State New York: Jose Hamza Saldana, director of Release Aging People in Prison, in a conversation with New York Nonprofit Media, discusses how to effect change in the face of an Albany scared of seeming soft on crime.
